Chemical Engineering October 2011 - 18

Waste-to-ethanol plant on pace for mid-2012 operation
ChementatoR
I
mpending standards requiring that cellulosic
ethanol be used in gasoline blending
have focused attention on building a capacity
for bioethanol from non-food sources. In
a development that may begin to meet that
need, a plant employing a unique method
for fermenting synthesis gas (syngas) to produce
ethanol will begin commercial operation
in the second quarter of 2012.
According to its builder, Ineos Bio (Lisle,
Ill.; www.ineosbio.com), the first-of-its-kind
plant, located in Vero Beach, Fla., will use a
variety of waste biomass as feedstock, and is
expected to generate 8-million gal/yr of biobased
ethanol. In the Ineos process, biomass
obtained from a nearby landfill is gasified to
produce syngas, which is then fermented into
ethanol by a specially cultivated, naturally
occurring species of Clostridium bacteria.
" We spent considerable time and effort to
precisely determine the process conditions
and nutrient mix under which these bacteria
produce ethanol in high yields and with
high selectivity, " comments Mark Niederschulte,
Ineos COO. The continuous fermentation
process has been demonstrated to
occur quickly (within 10 min), Niederschulte
says), allowing efficient operation. Another
key engineering challenge for Ineos was
achieving reliable operation of the gasifier,
without producing high levels of CO2 and
tar, Niederschulte says, noting " the efficient
use of feedstock is critical. "
The plant will also produce electricity by
using excess heat from the gasifier to generate
steam for turbines. The facility will
generate 6 MW of electricity, of which 4 MW
will be used to run the plant, and 2 MW will
be exported to power surrounding homes. By
co-generating its own power and using nocost
waste feedstock, Ineos believes its operating
costs will be significantly lower than
those of corn- and sugarcane-based ethanol
plants. The company is working to lower
capital costs, which are now higher than
conventional ethanol facilities. In addition
to operating its plant, Ineos seeks to license
its ethanol technology.
■
Air-operated AES
launched last month, the 410
microwave Plasma atomic
emission Spectrometer (mPaeS)
from aligent technologies
inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.;
www.agilent.com) is said to be
a breakthrough in elemental
analysis because the unit runs
entirely on air for nebulization.
normally ae spectrometers use
flammable (acetylene, ethylene
or h2) or expensive (ar) gases
to nebulize samples. instead,
the 410 mP-aeS features a
magnetically excited microwave
plasma source that operates
on nitrogen, which provides
improved linear dynamic range,
superior detection limits (down
to sub parts per billion) and
faster measurement compared
with flame atomic-absorption
spectroscopy, says the company.
no longer requiring gas
supplies, the unit is especially
suited for remote sites and
mobile laboratories, and since
flammable gases are no longer
required, the unit can safely
perform, unattended, multipleelement
samples overnight. ❐
NEW!
TEMPERATURE REPORTED WITH EVERY READING
EVERYBODY NEEDS ONE
MYRONL.COM
Circle 41 on p. 78 or go to adlinks.che.com/35070-41
18 ChemiCal engineering www.Che.Com oCtober 2011
http://www.agilent.com http://www.ineosbio.com http://www.MYRONL.COM http://adlinks.che.com/35070-41 http://www.Che.Com
Chemical Engineering October 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering October 2011
